Locked drawers are used in a variety of applications, including unattended car washes. For example, an unattended car wash will typically have a coin (or token) reception slot and validation mechanism associated therewith to allow a user to enable the car washing mechanism itself. The coins (or tokens) are then typically deposited in a locked drawer. From time to time, an attendant: will visit the locked drawer, unlock it and open it, and remove the coins (or tokens) that have collected there. The drawer will then be reclosed and relocked until the next collection episode.
One particularly useful coin (token) collection system of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,501, entitled Car Wash Coin/Token Collection System as filed by Halsey and Erwin and issued on Jul. 14, 1992 (the contents of which are incorporated herein by this reference). The system disclosed therein provides a secure lockable drawer that is held in a locked position by a pin, which pin falls into and remains in a locked position through the action of gravity. Solenoid coils are used to draw the pin into an unlocked position, to thereby allow the drawer to be opened and the coins (tokens) recovered.
Despite the many advantages of the system described in the above patent, the described system does not necessarily adequately meet all potential applications. For example, the mechanism that initiates the unlocking process is disclosed as being in close proximity to the locked drawer itself. This has occasional disadvantages in that the availability of the mechanism will tempt some thieves to tamper with the mechanism itself. Removing the mechanism to a remote location, however, poses other problems; in particular, the operator must activate the mechanism from the remote location, and by the time the operator makes his or her way to the now unlocked drawer, a thief may have already made easy unauthorized access to the drawer and removed the coins (tokens). Another problem involves the risks that the described system poses to the operator with respect to a breakdown within the unlocking system itself. Should both solenoid coils fail, or should the energizing circuit that supplies both coils fail, the drawer cannot be opened without necessitating likely destruction of the drawer itself and/or the wall that contains it. This, of course, constitutes a serious inconvenience and expense for the operator.
There therefore exists a need for a control system for such a locked drawer that avoids these and other problems. Preferably, such a solution should provide increased security with respect to unauthorized access, while simultaneously assuring the operator of increased reliability during usage.